Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Couldn't find a proper place to post this

It's been a long, long, long time since I posted. I see a lot of you are still around, which is great to see. One of these days I hope to be able to attend an IBS get-together.

I'm sorry Heather, and everyone else, if this is totally the wrong place to post this, but I couldn't find the right board to use and I am feeling very desperate and frustrated.

I recently went on disability and am unemployed due to mental/emotional problems as well as numerous physical conditions. So far, various doctors aren't finding answers. So far, my doctors are not that concerned that I haven't had a colonoscopy and are quite sure that due to my age and symptoms it's probably safe to say I don't need one for now. I've been on the prescription drug, Zelnorm, and it's helped a lot. What it does for me is allow me to have BM more often, with less C and very little D. Unfortunately, it's not a miracle pill. My doctors say that the best way to treat IBS/C (what I have) or any IBS is to treat the symptoms and try my best to eat well.

I've tried numerous recipes from the IBS recipe index, most of which are delicious. Some ingredients I either can't afford or can't find. Hopefully, that will change soon. In the meantime, I'm ekeing out what I can.

My life has changed drastically. I'm in the middle of a divorce (ex-hubby and I are still good friends, thank goodness), I was living in Canada and have since moved back to AZ, and now have a DB who is very understandable and supportive of my IBS, but it's hard on him sometimes.

Lately, my IBS has gotten much worse, symptoms come more often, stomach cramps, pinching, gas, bloating, and basically the need to have a BM several times a day. Today I've had 3 already and I've only been awake for about 5hrs! At least it's not D, and it's not abnormal at all. I'm just in a lot of pain.

Has anyone heard of hydrocolontherapy? It's a glorified enema, supposed to be an all-natural treatment that only licensed professionals should perform. Some insurances cover it, some don't, and it's about 60 bucks per session if you just pay out of pocket. My mom's homecare nurse told me about her IBS and that after 3 treatments, most of her symptoms were gone and she was able to eat more normally (w/o going overboard of course). My doc said that he has no probs with this type of therapy and said the worse that could happen is that it wouldn't work and I would waste time/money. The best that could happen is it would work. My doc also suggested other more natural ways of treating my IBS - I mentioned your website Heather - telling him that I wanted to try your natural treatments but didn't have the money to afford to buy your IBS starter kits, cookbooks, acacia, peppermint, and fennel. He agreed though that as soon as I could afford to try natural methods, he thught they would be a good thing to try. He also said some of his patients have tried papaya. I asked him how they ate it. He said they pureed it, which is good, because I said it's best to process fruit fiber so my intestines didn't have to. I don't like papaya unless it's in juice or pureed form anyway. Does anyone have suggestions on how to prepare a pureed papaya? My doc said some of his patients were having good luck with normalizing their guts with this method.

My final question has to do with the relationship between Fibro and CFS. In the past few years since I've been absent from the board, I've noticed my symptoms are very simimlar if not exactly like those that describe Fibro and CFS - IBS being one of those symptoms. Any thoughts? How should I go about talking to my doc about this? My last doctor didn't believe in CFS or Fibro - my new PCP is still awaiting my old records from my last docs before he starts doing anything and I want to know what to ask him and what to tell him. I'm tired of being in pain and exhausted all the time. It's tough to be barely 30yrs old but feel like a decrepit 1000yr old woman. My bones, joints, muscles, and everything in between hurt. My IBS doesn't help much either.

Btw, I found out that Morningstar Farms makes a decent 'bbq pork ribs' (it's really funny - someone actually took the time to form tofu into something that resembled a small rack of bbq pork ribs, lol!) Also, soy cheese is so much tastier imo than veggie cheese. :P

I read on one of the boards about Amy's brand frozen foods. One of my grocery stores carries some - Amy's Kitchen Pizza made with Soy cheese. It's excellent. Expensive though, but excellent. She also makes a Macaroni and Soy Cheeze, also expensive and yummy. She makes a gluten-free rice crust pizza w/reg cheese and a gluten-free rice pasta macaroni and cheese made with real cheese. I wonder if it's possible to petition that company to make a gluten-free, dairy free macaroni and cheese and and cheese pizza! LOL I have some tolerance to gluten, but it would be so nice to be able to eat rice crust/rice noodles with soy cheese. Most manufacturers forget that ppl don't just have lactose intolerance by itself and ppl just don't choose to be vegan just by itself, some ppl like some of us IBS sufferers have intolerance to both and may not have anything to do with preference. Starbucks here now carries soy milk, which adds an extra 40 cents to your coffee, but very, very rarely I have one. Last time I ordered my usual, changed up a bith - a mocha latte (this time it was a decaf mocha latte made with soy milk).

Once upon a time I could eat anything, and I only chose to eat something different out of preference, not out of necessity. I miss those days.

I miss you guys/gals, and there's probably no time for me to catch up on what I've missed in the past 3yrs or so. I don't have my own computer, so I can only check in now and then, but I'm always checking the IBS recipe index and I go to Recipezaar (recipezaar.com) where I found Kree and her mother Whisper - I post there too under blancpage. Do any of the rest of you post there at all?

Maybe in a couple of years I'll have the money to afford to buy your IBS products and meet the IBS ppl who've contributed here. You have no idea how much it means to me that all of you and Heather have created this place. I would have been lost without you. Talk to you soon, and thank you for reading. I'm sorry this got so long. Miss you all and take care and happy cooking! I'm so glad you're all still around and Heather - it looks like you've really made yourself a successful business with this IBS thing, congrats to you.

I'd like to offer one more question/suggestion. I thought maybe someone could create a sticky post which would contain a roster of the members of the IBS boards, or anyone who used this website and felt comfortable sharing. I thought we could leave either our handles or our first names (or more if you feel comfortable) and what city/state/country you live in. This way for those who can't afford to attend the larger get-togethers, maybe some of us can find a few IBS sufferers in our own home towns and we can make new friends that way? I know, it's the internet and cyberspace is not the safest place. I am usually a good judge of character and I know for a fact I won't be a psycho internet stalker - I'm disabled for goodness sakes, I can't even harm a fly if I wanted to lol! I'd have to ask someone else to. :P

If you all decide you want to do a roster thing on a sticky post - here's my info: Blancpage (handle) Sommer (first name) and I live in Phoenix, AZ, USA.

Hope to hear from you all soon. I hope I get the chance to check back here more often. Have a safe Summer and stay cool.

XOXO
Blancpage

P.S. I have a picture I want to post, I forgot how to do that, can someone remind me? It's not the greatest picture, but it's recent.

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XOXO from lil' ol' me.

(IBS-C, mood disorders, etc., etc.)

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